One for the Books

Queenan, Joe. One for the Books. New York: Viking. 2012. Print

First Sentences: 

The average American reads four books a year, and the average American finds this more than sufficient.

Men who run for high office often deem such a vertiginous quota needlessly rigorous, which is why they are sometimes a bit hazy on what Darwin actually said about finch beaks and can never remember which was Troilus and which was Cressida.

I am up to speed on both. Yet I find this no cause for celebration, much less preening. For though I read at least a hundred books a year, and often twice that number, I always end up on New Year's Eve feeling that I have accomplished nothing.

Description:

Book readers are a select group of humans. Bibliophiles are in an even smaller, more passionate sub-species of this group. And then there's Joe Queenan, author of One for the Books. 

In this intelligent, fascinating, and sometimes wacky book, Queenan describes all aspects of his existence as a passionate book reader, including his preferences and dislikes in authors and topics, bookstores, and libraries, as well as strong opinions on borrowing/lending books, writing notes in books, and finishing a book. 

Queenan estimates he is actively reading thirty-two books at any given time. He admits to having read between 6,000 - 7,000 books in his lifetime, broken down into about 150 books a year not including titles he reviews for newspapers and magazines. Of course, he never speed-reads a book as "that would defeat the purpose of the exercise, which is for the experience to be leisurely and pleasant." 

We learn he uses several techniques to select a book: by its book jacket design; by the the blurbs written on the back cover by writers he respects; and even by its length (once spending a year reading only short books). And he favors reading books where a reviewer has used the word "astonishing" to describe the work, but refuses to read any book with that same word occurs in the title (e.g., The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation).

At his age (60 something), he calculates he could read "2,138 books" before he dies, therefore he must be careful about what titles he will consider reading in his years left. He has time for "500 masterpieces, 500 minor classics, 500 overlooked works of pure genius, 500 oddities, and 168 examples of first-class trash." 

This means, of course, there are books he knows he will never read unless he is paid to do so. His black-listed books include anything recommended and loaned to him by friends, books on current affairs, biographies, inspirational themes, books written by businessmen, and anything electronic. 

Also eliminated from consideration is anything written by an author involving a character Queenan knows to be a lover of the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Cowboys, Duke University basketball, University of Southern California football, or Manchester United soccer team. Such people are beneath contempt and certainly not worth his time to read. 

What books he loves, he LOVES. He admits to skipping work for a week to "lie on the sofa and read ten Ruth Rendel novels." After discovering Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop, he immediately bought and read all of her works, as he did with Henning Mankell and his Kurt Wallander Scandinavian detective novels.

His strong opinion reveal a love and devotion to books that are inspirational and jaw-dropping at the same time, such as his future reading goals (e.g. reading one book a day for a year, re-reading all books in his collection that he has already read twice, reading only books picked off public library shelves "with my eyes closed," etc.). Other reflections are more poetic including the serendipitous pleasures he experienced via print books vs. electronic books.

Queenan is a confident, intelligent, and discerning reader, When he praises one of your own personal favorites like Philip Roth's Great American Novel or Huckleberry Finn, you feel a smugness that your taste in reading has passed a test of some sort. 

However, it is admittedly deflating when he denigrates a book or author you enjoy, as he does for To Kill a Mockingbird (one of the school-assigned "featherweight homilies"), P.G. Wodehouse (a "poncey aristocrat who played footsie with the Nazis"), and David Benioff's City of Thieves (because the narrator/survivor of the siege of Leningrad eventually emigrates to the US and becomes a Yankee fan).  

I loved this book and Joe Queenan for his cleverness, his obsession, his high-quality writing, and his unwavering standards of what should and should not be read. If you love reading about books and looking for new titles to pursue, One for the Books is a fantastic world to explore. 

Happy reading.


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments 

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Sankovitch, Nina. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading  

The author tries to deal with her grief for her sister's death by committing to read a book a day and then write a review of each for her website (readallday.org). Great bibliography of the books she read as well as insight into how books and memoirs can help deal with sorrow.

Basbanes, Nicholas A. A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books  

A wonderful history of book collectors and their collections, delightful in its portrayal of the quirks, passion, and overwhelming commitment to purpose shown by this bibliophiles.

Browsings

Dirda, Michael. Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books. New York: Pegasus 2015. Print

First Sentences:

As readers of Browsings will discover in the weeks to come, I'm pretty much what used to be called a "bookman." 

 

This means, essentially, that I read a lot and enjoy writing about the books and authors that interest me....But my tone aims to remain easygoing and conversational, just me sharing some of my discoveries and enthusiasms.


Description:

OK, I admit it. I'm a hopeless sucker for books about books. Anything that covers ground about reading experiences and interesting titles, I'm all in. Whether the topic is about reading the encyclopedia (The Know-It-All: One Man's Quest to be the Smartest Man in the World), perusing every book on one shelf in the library (The Shelf: From LEQ to LES), thoughtful recommendations from someone who reads 6,000 books a year (One For the Books), or just a personal list of wonderful books organized by subject and complete with witty descriptions (Book Lust), I gobble up these books, copying enticing titles into my pocket notebook of "Books To Be Read" for later consumption.

My latest treasure in this "Books on Books" topic is Michael Dirda Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books. Dirda was a columnist for The American Scholar between 2012-13, taking the column over from the great William K. Zinsser, the author of On Writing Well, which to me is the definitive grammar and writing style advice guidebook. Quite large shoes to fill.

But Dirda can really write, and write he does on any book-related topic that strikes his fancy for his column, "Browsings." In this book, Dirda collects one year's worth of his short columns on a wide variety of topics, including:

Thrift store book shopping -

One thing never does change: the books you really covet always cost more that you want to pay for them. But, to borrow a phrase that women use of childbirth, the pain quickly vanishes when you finally hold that longed-for baby, or book, and know that it is your forever.

Book Collecting - 

Three important points for buying a collectable book : condition, condition, condition....Now you can easily acquire almost anything with a keystroke, if you have the funds. But where's the fun of that? Where's the serendipity? The thrill of the hunt?...that's not collecting, that's shopping.

Anthologies - 

Anthologies resemble dating. You enjoy some swell times and suffer through some awful ones, until one happy hour you encounter a story you really, really like and decide to settle down for a while with its author. Of course, this doesn't lead to strict fidelity.

His own life - 

I had graduated from Oberlin College and failed to win a Rhodes Scholarship -- a long shot, at best, given that I played no sports, earned mediocre grades as a freshman and sophomore, and had participated in absolutely nothing extracurricular. It turned out that zeal for learning and boyish charm weren't quite enough for the Rhodes committee... 

He introduces or refamiliarizes us readers with his favorite writers, such as:

• Everett F. Bleiler - author of The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, with summaries for 1,775 books written between 1750-1960;

• Irvin Leigh Matus - author of Shakespeare, In Fact, the definitive scholarly work about the life of the Bard, despite Matus having no formal education beyond a high school diploma, and incredibly had 20 years earlier been living on a heating grate behind the Library of Congress

• Charles Wager - Oberlin College professor who wrote essays on his college in To Whom It May Concern. Wager was the teacher whom Robert Maynard Hutching, renown president of the University of Chicago, said was the only truly great teacher he experienced during his years of education at Yale, Princeton, and many other universities

Dirda mentions his love of classic novels, especially those long-forgotten but are still captivating and worth re-exploring. He even developed and taught a course at the Univerisity of Maryland entitled, "The Classic Adventure Novel: 1885-1915" where students read King Solomon's Mines. Kidnapped, The Time Machine, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Man Who Was Thursday, Kim, The Thirty-Nine Steps, and Tarzan of the Apes (my favorite hero as a boy. I read all 24 Tarzan books three times before my parents made me move on). This wildly popular class led to his follow-up course "The Modern Adventure Novel: 1917-1973" which covered Captain Blood, Red Harvest, The Real Cool Killers, True Grit, and The Princess Bride. Who wouldn't want to take those courses with him and dive into these gripping novels?

Here's just a peak at a smattering of some of the other unusual titles Dirda mentions that caught my eye:

• Fully Dressed and in His Right Mind 
• The Moon Is Feminine
• The Man With the Magic Eardrums
• The Skull of the Waltzing Clown
• The Lost Continent
• When I Was a Child I Read Books 
• I Am Thinking of My Darling
• The Fangs of Suet Pudding
• The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
• The Venetian Glass Nephew
• The Man Who Understood Women 

I could go on and on about the treasures uncovered in Browsings, but I'll leave that pleasure to you readers curious about discovering new titles to explore, reading about the author's incurable scrounging through used book stores, encounters with famous and not-so-famous writers, and his pursuit of quality reads and reading experiences.

I've lived slow, dithered and dallied, taken my own sweet time, and done pretty much what I've repeatedly done ever since my mother first taught me to read so long ago: Found a quiet spot and opened a book. 

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Miller, Andy. A Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (and Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life  

Author Andy Miller decides to read fifty book in one year. Along the way, he writes an essay on each book about what the book means to him, his feelings for the author and background, and anything else delightful he can think of. He avoided Dan Brown's books. (previously reviewed here)

Queenen, Joe. One for the Books  

Here's a gifted reader, writer, and commentator on books (he reads up to 32 at a time!), guaranteed to fill up your To Be Read file with countless interesting titles you simply cannot live without reading. Wonderful writing and a goldmine of book ideas (previously reviewed here)

 

 

 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Zevin, Gabrielle. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin. 2014. Print

First Sentences:

On the ferry from Hyannis to Alice Island, Amelia Loman paints her nails yellow and, while waiting for them to dry, skims her predecessor's notes.

Description:

As you know by now, I'm a sucker for stories about books, libraries, book sellers, reading experiences, collectors, whatever. I love John Dunning's Booked to Die, Christopher Morley's The Haunted Bookshop, Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross, Joe Queenan's One for the Books, and Larry McMurtry's Books: A Memoir, not only for their great writing and stories, but because they focus on people like me who read and love books. And as a bonus, these books usually provide references to other great books, so I get tips about previously unknown (to me) titles for my night table's to-be-read pile.

In Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, all the elements of a great book-about-books are present: eccentric people, unique bookstore, undying passion (for books and specific people), references to books worth reading, and underlying noble theme of preserving the printed word. There's even a nice romance to round out all the great qualities of this book.

Amelia Loman is a salesperson from a publisher eager to get her company's books into the hands of A.J. Fikry and onto the shelves of his "persnickety little bookstore." Fikry and his Island Books are located in an small island community in Massachusetts that takes several hours to reach by boat. Amelia is not-so-young, smart, and a bit naïve when it comes to dealing with the curmudgeons found in these types of bookstores, especially Fikry. As for personal relationships, she is a "bright-sider" who feels "it is better to be alone than to be with someone who doesn't share your sensibilities and interests."

She pitches her winter list of books to Fikry, including her personal favorite, The Late Bloomer, the memoirs of a man who marries for the first time at age 78, only to have his wife die two years later. Fikry will have none of that book for the simple reason "it is not for me." Turns out he has a long list of what kinds of books that are not for him:

I don't like postmodernism, postapocalyptic settings, postmortem narrators, or magic realism. I rarely respond to supposedly clever formal devices, multiple fonts, pictures where they shouldn't be---basically, gimmicks of any kind. I find literary fiction about the Holocaust or any other major world tragedy to be distasteful...I do not like genre mash-ups a la the literary detective novel or the literary fantasy. Literary should be literary, and genre should be genre, and crossbreeding rarely results in anything satisfying ....

Wow, a man of discerning tastes, and one who is in a position to enforce his tastes via the stock of his bookstore. Imagine the power of only stocking books you love and respect, without needing to consider "children's books, especially ones with orphans;" never having to clutter your shelves with young adult titles; and rejecting "anything over four hundred pages or under one hundred fifty pages." Maybe it is just me, but the thought of introducing customers only to books I personally love and respect is quite heady. Must be the personal quirk that is the genesis behind this blog.

Anyways, the story centers on these two intelligent, opinionated, and admirably quirky people... and that alone should be enough to satisfy any reader. But there also is a good plot involving a store break-in where a valuable Edgar Allen Poe book is taken, a suicide, a baby abandoned in the store, and wonderful interactions with customers and "well-meaning townies" in this tiny coastal tourist destination.

As an added bonus, beginning each chapter is a one-page, often snarky review by Fikry of a short story he recommends: (The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte, A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor, The Tell-Tale Heart by E.A. Poe, and The Diamond As Big As the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc.).  

The writing is solid, the characters fascinating, and the plot compelling in its mystery, romance, and relationships. It's a book that pulls you in slowly, but soon grabs you through its plot and likable characters, where you will not to be released until the very last pages when all the pieces are tied up (including the real story behind Amelia's favorite and Fikry's disdained book, The Late Bloomer). 

Believe me, it is a wonderful ride.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Dunning, John. Booked to Die

Ex-cop turned rare book dealer finds himself once again pulled into the world of murder. Great information on finding rare books, pricing interesting titles, and the dilemma of wanting to keep every book you stock for your own private collection. (previously reviewed here)

Hanff, Helene. 84 Charing Cross Road

Memoirs of an American woman and her correspondence with a London rare book dealer who tries to supply her needs for good quality, cheap, and hard-to-find titles.

Queenan, Joe. One for the Books

Memories from a major book collector and discerning reader who has at least 15 books being read at a time. Fantastic references to quality reads as well as criticisms of popular and classic titles. (Previously reviewed here.) 

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction

Jacobs, Alan The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. New York: Oxford University. 2011. Print.

First Sentences:

A while back my teenage son drifted into the room where I was reading, tilting his head to catch the title of the book in my hands.

It was that venerable classic How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren. 

"Oh man," he said, "I had to read that in school last year. Maybe I learned something about how to read a book, but after that I never wanted to read a book again."

Description:

I love books about books, especially ones that introduce me to a bunch of new titles to explore and promote reading as a worthwhile pastime full of surprises and satisfaction. But even better is when an author's philosophy on reading and evaluating books conforms to mine! Alan Jacobs' The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction fills my needs to a "T".

Jacobs presents today's environment as one full of distractions that hinder reading: electronic gadgets, the internet, overloaded schedules, and simple human disinterest. He carefully thinks about why, in this world, some people still read, whether it is still a justifiable pastime. If reading is worthwhile, how does one recognize the quality (and also the not so great) books one should spend precious time with?

To Jacobs, "It's wrong to read a bunch of books you don't want to read" with the goal to impress other people, teachers, etc. For him, the reason to read any book is clear: for "pleasure and joy."

My commitment to one dominant, overarching, nearly definite principle for reading: Read at whim.

He lambasts authors of the very books, How to Read a Book, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and similar writers who urge people to read simply to show respect for the classics. Such authors argue that people have an obligation to make sense out of these books and improve one's mind, gather data, impress others, or change behavior. For Jacobs, reading out of guilt to conform to what critics recommend is the "intellectual equivalent of eating organic greens."

Attentiveness is worth cultivating: not just because it is good for you or because ... it can help you "organize your world," but because such raptness is deeply satisfying.

Jacobs delightfully covers every aspect of reading with his dry wit and intelligence. There are chapters on the pleasure of re-reading books, on using e-readers, avoiding the distraction of noise and temptations, the beauty of slow reading, and embracing the pleasure of reading with enthusiasm.

The book that demands to be read, for no good reason, is asking us to change our lives by putting aside what we usually think of as good reasons....It's asking us to do something for the plain old delight and interest of it, not because we can justify its place on the mental spreadsheet or accounting ledger...by which we tote up the value of our actions.

Jacobs removes the load off many readers' minds who feel they must spend their leisure time reading books for reasons other than pleasure and joy. It is wonderful to hear his arguments and passion about the basic thrill of reading anything you want simply out of whim rather than due to obligation or guilt. That concept justifies my early love for the 26-volume Tarzan series.

One last comforting thought from Jacobs:

Despite the lamentations of many contemporary Jeremiahs, the cause of reading is not a lost one by any means.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Walton, Jo. What Makes This Book So Great?

Walton, who reads a book a day, has plenty of opinions on great science fiction/fantasy titles, the pleasure of re-reading old favorites, and science fiction/fantasy titles worthy of note. (previously reviewed here)

Queenan, Joe. One for the Books. 

Any author who admits to reading up to 15 books at a time is someone who has opinions on interesting (and worthless) titles. A treasure trove of titles to explore as well as clever, witting opinions on every aspect of reading and books. (previously reviewed here). 

The First Sentence Reader. Special Post - Resources for Finding Great Books

Resources and books that describe titles for every reading interest. (previously reviewed here).

Special Post - Resources for Finding Great Books

Situation:
You crave the perfect title to fit your reading mood, whether a thriller, romance, mystery, coming of age, biography, or history. You want something great, quirky, and definitely a grabber from the first sentence. 

Problem:
You need a source of recommendations from a source you respect who has similar passions as you for quality reads, interesting characters, and challenging plots. You want the newest books praised by this person, not just something popular from the list of New York Times Bestsellers. 

Solution:
Below are some sources, both print and online, that I use to learn about new and old titles. Reading a quick review by a smart writer rouses my curiosity and gets me to search out the first sentences in a copy from the bookstore or online at Amazon. If that writing grabs me, I am ready to actually read the book, pretty much assured I will enjoy it.

Hope these resources provide some titles that catch your interest. Maybe you have other resources you use. Please let me know in the Comments below as I am always looking for new avenues to the best reads.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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Print Resources

Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason - Nancy Pearl

Description:

By far the best reviews for quality reads. Pearl recommends huge numbers of books organized by eclectic categories including "Academic Mysteries," "Armchair Travel," and "Australian Fiction," to "What a (Natural) Disaster," "Women's Friendships," and "World War II Nonfiction."

She writes short, enthusiastic reviews which make you want to read every book she mentions. Even better, she has three other books about great books: More Book Lust, Book Lust to Go (travel writing), and Book Crush (kids and teens).

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Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You - Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin

Description:

Different books appeal to us depending on our moods. Sometimes we need cheering up, a quick escape, a look into history, or a great love story. Other times, we need help, whether to learn about ourselves, our problems, or the world itself. 

Novel Cure offers hundreds of high-quality titles and descriptions of the perfect books to fit with your needs of that moment, including "Abandonment" (Plainsong by Kent Haruf), "Age Gap Between Lovers" (A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka) and "Aging, the Horrors of" (JItterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins).

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Great Beginnings: Opening Lines of Great Novels - Georgianne Ensign

Description:

Hundreds of opening lines to great books. Sections are broken into what these first sentences reveal, from meeting the narrator, setting the scene, critical actions, to the arrival of a stranger, revelation of the contents of a letter, and the author's philosophy. Even have sections covering the dramatically short sentences as well as openings with 100+ word sentences.

No descriptions of the contents of the books, but since I believe the first sentences determine the quality of the book, you can quickly, confidently decide how each book might meet your tastes based on style, characters, and plot.

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Booked to Die - John Dunning

Description:

It's unusual to read a fictional crime novel and discover great recommendations for books, but John Dunning's Bookman series of ex-cop-turned-rare-book-dealer Cliff Janeway are rich lodes of classic titles.

Although Janeway gets involved in murder investigations, his main interest is selecting quality books for his rare book shop. Thus, he shares his favorite titles and authors and why he loves them enough to stock them (or keep them for himself). His tastes are exquisite, uncovering forgotten authors (such as mystery-writer C.W. Grafton, Sue Grafton's father) and titles that have stood the test of quality writing, character, and plot.

There are several books about Janeway and his book recommendations/crime stories, including Bookman's Wake, The Sign of the Book, The Bookman's Promise, and The Bookman's Last Fling. Come for the book recommendations and stay for the great writing and crime stories. (Booked to Die was previously reviewed here.)

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One for the Books - Joe Queenan

Description:

Queenan estimates he has read between 6,000 - 7,000 books at about 150 per year, with usually more than 15 going simultaneously. Therefore, he's read everything and, even better, has strong opinions on what is great and what is forgettable.

His writes of his tastes organized in an unexpected way to include diverse titles, so it is preferable to simply read chapters like a regular book rather than skimming. You won't be disappointed with titles referred to in chapters such as "Prepare to be Astonished" (The Good Soldier), "The Stockholm Syndrome (The Dogs of Riga), and "Life Support" (Book of Lost Books). 

This is a fantastically fun, enlightening, opinionated, and wild book about books. I just love following his wandering tastes and accompanying stories, discovering many new books including those he's read more than once (e.g., Flaubert's Sentimental Education). A great resource for classic and obscure reads. (One for the Books was previously reviewed here.)

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Education of a Wandering Man - Louis L'Amour

Description:

As a young man, Louis L'Amour, the great Western story writer, spent much time hopping onto trains and riding the rails, jumping off wherever he liked, working a bit, then traveling some more. Education of a Wandering Man complies entries from his diaries of these years of roaming, but also contain lists of the books he read during his travels.

He always carried a bag of book to read and share with fellow travelers. Even better, he kept copious lists of every book he got his hands on. Fascinating to examine what he read (everything). An interesting note: he only kept the books for his own library which he could not easily be able to acquire again (e.g., The Annals and Antiquities of Rajahstan). Using this criteria, one can view the titles he classifies as of the highest quality and the rarest.

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Page-A-Day Booklovers Calendar

Description:

I have found more fascinating books from this calendar than any other resource. Every day offers a title from the recent or distant past, books that have proven quality, but maybe have slipped into undeserved obscurity. Each title is reviewed in only a few short sentences, but so passionately written that you want to search out every selection immediately. And once you purchase this, you can access the titles and descriptions online or have them emailed to you each day. Learning about a new book is a wonderful way to wake up in the morning!

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Free Online Resources 
(Blogs, Newsletters, etc.)

   BookPage






   
Description:

This is a monthly book newsletter distributed free in print format in 450,000 bookstores and libraries. The online version offers book-of-the-day email postings for the newest titles and reviews, as well as more extensive lists of current and past reviews. An excellent resource to keep up to date on the best and brightest of new books.

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    NPR Books

    

Description:

Wonderful weekly resource for great reads by topic, whether new publications or off-beat older selections. Newsletters are available to be sent you via email, RSS, etc. You can listen to podcasts with Nancy Pearl and other reviewers as well from this web site.

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The Huffington Post Books

Description: 

Online newsletter with lots and lots of quality books and reviews from a variety of readers with differing tastes. The variety is wonderful and the writing and passion makes you want to get every book.

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  Booklist Online 

Description:

Over 130,000 book reviews created by the American Library Association "for librarians, book groups, and book lovers." A very wide range of current books with high-quality reviews. Also, their newsletter provides many pre-publication titles so you can be the first to order one from your library or book store.

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The Longest Chapter                     The Longest Chapter

Literary fiction, poetry, first editions, classics… 

                                           

Description: 

Really great book review blog from the NPR book critic for WOSU in Columbus, Ohio. Introduces lots of great, lesser-known titles (at least to me) that have proved captivating, well-written, and challenging (e.g., Norwegian by Night, The Collector of Lost Things, The Good Luck of Right Now, Burial Rites, and my newest favorite, Brewster). 

All of these titles I can honestly say were among my favorites of the past few months. She even offers her list of the most memorable 54 books for her 54 years.